Poire Belle Hélène with Vanilla-Poached Pears and Warm Dark Chocolate Sauce

⏱ 50 min · Serves 4

Escoffier's tribute to an operetta, and still one of the most elegant desserts you can make. Pears poached slowly in vanilla syrup until translucent, spooned over cold vanilla ice cream and drowned in a glossy warm chocolate sauce, with toasted almonds for crunch. Simple, but properly restaurant-worthy.

Per serving: 610 kcal · 7.0g protein · 78.0g carbs · 31.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 firm but ripe pears (Conference or Williams), peeled, stalks left on
• 700ml water
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)
• 1 strip lemon zest, plus juice of 1/2 lemon
• 150g good dark chocolate (60–70%), finely chopped
• 120ml double cream
• 60ml whole milk
• 20g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup or liquid glucose (for shine)
• Pinch of flaky sea salt
• 4 generous scoops vanilla ice cream
• 30g flaked almonds, toasted

Method

1. Put the water, sugar, split vanilla pod (scrape the seeds in too), lemon zest and lemon juice into a saucepan wide enough to hold the pears snugly. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a bare simmer.
2. Peel the pears, keeping the stalks on, and use a melon baller or small teaspoon to scoop out the core from the base. Rub with a little lemon juice to stop browning.
3. Lower the pears into the syrup, lying them on their sides. Cover with a disc of baking paper pressed onto the surface so they stay submerged. Poach very gently for 18–25 minutes, turning once, until a skewer slides into the thickest part with no resistance.
4. Take off the heat and let the pears cool in the syrup for at least 20 minutes — they'll keep absorbing vanilla. They can be chilled in the syrup for up to 3 days.
5. For the sauce, put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream, milk, butter and golden syrup together until steaming but not boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Leave 1 minute, then stir from the middle outwards until glossy and smooth. Add a pinch of salt. Keep warm over a pan of just-hot water.
6. To serve, drain the pears and pat dry. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in each chilled bowl or coupe, sit a pear alongside or on top, and pour over plenty of warm chocolate sauce at the table. Scatter with toasted flaked almonds and serve immediately.